1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to web-based travel and vacation planning systems.
2. Related Art
Travel planning systems are used to produce itineraries and prices by selecting suitable travel units from databases containing geographic, scheduling and pricing information. In the airline industry, fundamental travel units include “flights” (sequences of regularly scheduled takeoffs and landings assigned a common identifier) and “fares” (prices published by airlines for travel between two points). The term “itinerary” is often used to refer to a sequence of flights on particular dates, and the term “pricing solution” is often used to refer to a combination of fares and itineraries that satisfies a travel request.
The databases usually contain schedule information provided by airlines, typically in the so-called Standard Schedules Information Manual (SSIM) format, and usually fares published by airlines and resellers, typically provided through the intermediary Airline Tariff Publishing Company (ATPCO). The database may also contain “availability” information that determines whether space is available on flights. Alternatively, available information may be obtained through communication links to external sources such as airlines.
Presently, so-called computer reservation systems (CRSs, also sometimes known as Global Distribution Systems, or GDSs, or, alternatively, as “consolidators”) operate to produce fare and schedule information. The four primary computer reservation systems that operate in the United States and in many other countries are Sabre™, Galileo™, Amadeus™ and WorldSpan™. A typical CRS contains a periodically updated central database that is accessed by subscribers, such as travel agents, through computer terminals. The subscribers use the computer reservation system to determine what airline flights are operating in a given market, what fares are offered and whether seats are available on flights to make bookings and issue tickets to clients.
The computer reservation systems typically conduct searches using the information contained in the database to produce itineraries that satisfy a received request. The search results are sorted and returned to the requester's computer for display. Often, the number of possible itineraries and pricing solutions that are returned by a CRS is a small portion of the total set that may satisfy a passenger's request.
A number of problems exist with conventional websites often used by consumers to book their vacations and flight plans. For example, many websites return a number of flight options, including low priced options, even when there are no seats available on those flights. Thus, if a consumer wanted to actually book the lowest fare, he would be unable to, and would be redirected to the higher fare.
Another problem exists in the nature of the reservation process. A consumer can often reserve a seat for up to 48 hours without actually paying for it. This requires the airline to hold inventory, without being certain that the inventory will actually be sold as booked.
Yet another problem exists in that the GDSs charge $4.50 per flight leg, and $30 for hotel bookings. These numbers can add up quickly. Thus, many airlines and/or travel websites would like to eliminate the middleman (i.e., the GDSs) so as to provide a lower fare to the consumer.